Moonlight Reflections
by Ai No Senshi
Summary: A defender of those who can not defend themselves. A light in the darkness. The Moonlight Goddess protects all, but can she protect herself from her own heart when a Prince rides into her life? Can she choose the right reflection?
1. Reflections

Her cloak was as white as the clouds and shone brightly like a halo when the sun struck it. She rode a horse of the purest white without a blemish of silver. No one had ever seen her face, never caught a glimpse of her eyes, but she was there when she was needed with her silvery sword drawn. The ones who'd been saved by her called her the Moonlight Goddess.  
  
Prince Endymion of the Earth had heard the rumors spreading around his kingdom of this mysterious, "Goddess", but never in his life did he think he would see her. She came from... nowhere riding faster than the wind with her long cloak trail behind her like wings. She unsheathed her sword and as it caught the sun he was temporily blinded.  
  
She pulled her horse to a stop in the road in front of his horse and those of his guards.  
  
"You may not come through," the voice beneath the hood said.  
  
"And why not?"  
  
She held her sword threatingly. "Do you doubt what I say? You'll be in danger if you continue along this path."  
  
"Then what do you propose we do?" He asked her. His mind kept traveling to what might be hidden behind the mask. He studied her sword and saw why she was called the Moonlight Goddess. Embedded in the hilt was a crescent moon made of silver moonstone. Inscripted on it's blade was an ancient Moon language unrecognizable by those who were not royalty or Ancients. It read, "In the Moonlight magic is born."  
  
His mind had strayed off and he'd not heard her answer, but the anger of the guards lingered in the air.  
  
"There is no way we can take the old path!" One guard yelled.  
  
She merely looked away and said, "If you do not take the old path you will not make it to your destination. It is safe and you will make it, but the decision is yours."  
  
She rode off through the forest not stopping to look back.  
  
Watching her go he found himself mesmerized and left in a daze for he had caught a glimpse of her silver hair and had met her deep blue eyes for only a second.  
  
That day they listened to her and took the old path. They found out later that the path they originally planned on taking had been raided by bandits. All those bandits turned themselves in later with a crescent moon shaped cut on their foreheads.  
  
He saw her again two weeks later. A group of bandits had surrounded his horses and outnumbered his knights. She rode swiftly in front of the bandits in drew her sword.  
  
"The Moonlight Goddess!" A bandit whispered harshly.  
  
"She's nothin'," a rather disgusting one said and made his way towards her.  
  
She slid off the horse and held her sword out in front of her. "Are you sure of your own words?"  
  
Four of the twelve bandits fled and she did not go after them. The remaining eight turned their attention towards her. The sniveling group drew their own daggers and got ready for a fight. The first bandit took a stab.  
  
She swung her sword in a full circle and it went through his stone dagger that broke in half.  
  
He looked up at her fearfully and took off with another bandit. It was down to six and they themselves were looking a little frightened considering there was already five knights who dismounted their horses. The bandits finally took off and the Moonlight Goddess swung back onto her horse.  
  
"Where are you going?" Endymion asked.  
  
Her hood turned his way, but she didn't answer. She dug her heels into the horse's side and started for the woods. Before any of the knights could stop him, Endymion started after her on his black horse.  
  
Through the woods they rode, they're horses jumping over the logs spread in front of them. She never looked back, but knew he was following. Her horse twisted through the trees faster than his did.  
  
"Guthyn, Traiu!" she said in the ancient language to it and it rode even faster.  
  
Endymion feared he was losing her and spurred his horse on. She disappeared from sight until he broke through the forest into a valley filled with sunlight and roses. She stood in the middle of the flowers beside her horse. He stopped and dismounted twenty feet away from her.  
  
"What is your purpose for following me?" She asked.  
  
"To learn who you are."  
  
"Who I am doesn't matter. What I do is what's important."  
  
"At least remove your hood," he asked.  
  
She contended with her thoughts for a moment, but brought her hands to her hood. She started to pull it down and stopped. "Why should I show you who I am if you give me nothing in return?"  
  
He sighed, "Because I asked you with only hope and curiousity in my heart."  
  
Inside her mind there was a fight happening. This handsome man had asked of her only a small thing. Couldn't she let him have a glimpse from a distance? She sighed at herself and pulled down her hood.  
  
He gasped. She had silver hair that shone around her face in small ringlets. Her blue eyes seemed to go straight through his soul. Her pale skin did not look unhealthy, but natural and like ivory. She looked vaguely familiar. "Why do you keep your beauty hidden?"  
  
"To keep my identity to myself." She pulled her hood back up and mounted her horse. "Do not follow me."  
  
He watched as she disappeared into the forest.  
  
He issued a reward the next day for information pertaining to the Moonlight Goddess and the reply was astounding.  
  
"She saved me from 'em bandits, she did."  
  
"She's from the Moon I promise ya. It says so on 'er sword. I 'eard 'er talkin' to 'er horse in the ancient language too. Royalty more 'an likely."  
  
"She stays in the North Woods and patrols them. She stops the bandits. Kind of like Robin Hood."  
  
"If you really want to know about her you need to put yourself in some sorta danger. She'll come for sure."  
  
After recieving comments and suggestions from what seemed half the kingdom he decided to try and find her himself. He rode alone deep into the North Woods to parts bandits were famous for and sure enough a group of them appeared.  
  
"Now what der we 'ave 'ere," one of them sneered. "A royal 'ithout 'is knights. Tsk. Tsk."  
  
Endymion drew his sword though he wasn't planning to use it. He got off his horse and faced the eight. They sneered at him. He thought it would be simple, but it wasn't. He'd beat one, but another would come. He began to tire and a look of shock crossed his face when the sharp end of a dagger went through his chest. His eyes grew wide and he fell to the ground.  
  
A white horse galloped through and stopped in front of him. The Moon Goddess dismounted and drew her sword.  
  
"Py vmyt, ire vmy!," she said with poison running through her voice. A grown knight would have fleed for his life. But the bandits, being so dumb, just smiled.  
  
"No fancy language can scare me away," one of them said.  
  
She turned to him and held her sword threatingly. "You die first." She spun around in a circle bringing her sword through his chest. He spat up blood and the rest of them ran, leaving him there to die alone. She sighed and pulled her sword from him. His eyes went blank and his soul left him.  
  
Endymion had been rendered unconscious and saw none of this. The Moonlight Goddess looked down on the beautiful prince. She tore off a peice of her cloak and wrapped it around him.  
  
"It will help for now," she pulled him up onto her horse and sat with her arms around him, a position she didn't mind being in.  
  
Hours later Endymion awoke under the beautiful pale moonlight by a silvery pond that reflected it even better. He felt someone pressing a cold liquid against his chest.  
  
"Ow!" He said making the person jump. It took him moments to register that the person was actually the Moonlight Goddess... without her cloak on. "Wow," he said breathelessly.  
  
She looked down at him with those silvery blue eyes. He couldn't read her expression, but it wasn't a happy one.  
  
"I don't think there is any reason to say, 'Wow' when you almost got yourself killed because you are in love with someone who cannot fall in love."  
  
"Who said I'm in love?" he said blushing slightly. She pressed down on his wound again. "Ow! Do you have to do that?!"  
  
"It depends. Do you want to get an infection? And no one said you were in love, but the look on your face tells me everything I need to know." She continued mumbling in the ancient language, "Ire uny u veot pyntra. Uav u thewmb pyntra hr hneth.  
  
"I know what you're saying and I don't appreciate you calling me stupid."  
  
It was her turn to blush, or so he thought. Her face was actually turning red with anger. She started ranting faster and slurred her words so he couldn't tell what she said. "Thewmb oau! Ire pusy ar prarn!"  
  
She stood up and walked into a round hut. When she came back out she threw a blanket at him.  
  
"Enjoy the outdoors!" She said and went into the hut. She closed the wooden door behind her.  
  
Endymion looked around and wondered if he was ever going to get to sleep. He stood up and realized he was shirtless and his chest was wrapped. He felt the cold night sweep in around him and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. He looked into the pond and was startled at what he saw.  
  
There was not one reflection of himself, but many! One was scowling and wearing all black. Another was wearing a tuxedo and a top hat.. There was one wearing a green jacket and a black shirt with a smug look on his face. Then a man wearing a purple tuxedo that Endymion thought looked rather ugly.  
  
"What is this?" He asked. A voice came from behind him. "It's the Pond of Many Faces. It shows everyside of you. You choose which one you are."  
  
He looked back at the Goddess. "What do you see?"  
  
She sighed and looked down in the water, "A teenage girl with blond hair. She has on a skirt and short sleeved top. Another girl has on a tiara and is holding Queen Serenity's wand. And then there's a woman with the crescent moon on her forehead and a long clingy dress on. There's more. A woman all in dark scowling. She's the evil side of me."  
  
He was amazed. This many people? Him?  
  
"You shouldn't have tried to find out who I was, Endymion. You shouldn't have put yourself in danger like you did."  
  
"And why shouldn't I have?"  
  
"Because," she said and turned to him, "I was always right behind you. You just never looked."  
  
She walked away and left him with his reflections. He fell asleep an hour later. He didn't see her, but she came back out and sat beside the lake. She looked down on the reflections of her future selves and threw a rock down on them. The water rippled and the picture cleared.  
  
"It will happen soon," she said. "Too soon."  
  
A new picture started to appear, but she turned away. She'd watched the destruction too many times. Fallen in love with the reflection of the prince too many times. It would all end the same. No matter what.  
  
Author's Note: Sorry for not writing forever. You know how it goes when school starts. I know this moves really fast, but I'll try and slow down the next chapter. And five points to anyone who can break the code of the Ancient Moon language. Yes, there is one. Oh, yeah review please! 


	2. The Dark One

he golden morning broke through Endymion's eyelids and woke him up.  
  
Morning," a voice said. He had trouble remembering who it belonged to. But then a pair of blue eyes and strands of silver hair fell over his face.  
  
"Goddess?" he asked wearily.  
  
"Yes. Don't you remember anything?" She took the blankets away from his chest and started unwrapping his bandages. She looked at his red and purple scab. "Hmm..." She touched it gently.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Ire dudi," she said, rolling her eyes.  
  
"I am not a baby," he said defensively.  
  
"I bet. Does Endymion need me to kiss it and make it all better?"  
  
There was a change in the mood. Endymion's attention turned to her full pink lips. He wondered what it would feel like to meet them, just once. She realized that she'd set herself up for an uncomfortable situation.  
  
"Maybe," he said.  
  
She looked up at him with those beautiful crystal blues and he had to, just had to, kiss her. He leaned forward to do so, but right before their lips met, she pulled away.  
  
"I'm sure you'll be fine," she said quickly. She went into her hut and came back out with his jacket and some towels. "There's a waterfall just past those rocks over there. You can clean off. When you come back I'll rebandage you."  
  
He nodded and went in the direction she'd pointed.  
  
When he was out of sight she let out a sigh. "This is so hard." The pond was reflecting her many selves. "I don't want to choose. Someone else choose for me."  
  
A voice travelled to her upon the wind, "I know what you should choose. I know what's best for you. Just step right into the one on your left. Hpy vunx ray."  
  
The voice sent shivers down her spine. It was smooth and seducting and so sure of itself. It was a voice she'd heard before. Who's was it?  
  
"Don't worry about a thing. If you choose the dark one everything will be fine. Endymion will be just fine... with me."  
  
Serenity recognized the voice. "Beryl!" She ran towards the waterfall hoping that she wasn't too late, unsheathing her sword on the way. Endymion was done showering and had his jacket on. "Endymion!"  
  
He looked up. "What's wrong, Goddess?"  
  
"Get away from the water!" She pushed him away from the shore and back towards the forest. A great ball of energy struck her in the chest, her sword flying away from her hand. She lost her footing and started falling backwards. The water filled her ears, nose, and open mouth.  
  
"I choose," she began, but bubbles floated out at her every word. Her vision was blurred, but she could see the Prince staring down at her from shore, too shocked too move. And then she saw the evil witch, Beryl, coming up from behind him. She couldn't shout a warning and she couldn't push her way too the surface. She just drifted downward.  
  
Fight it! Fight it! Something inside her screamed. She tried. She kicked and ripped off her outer robe that was waying her down. Nothing was working. Help me! She yelled. But no one could hear her, let alone answer.  
  
The water rippled and Endymion came crashing down on top of her. There was a blackness surrounding him and she could see bubbles coming from his mouth as if he was screaming. Her feet hit the bottom and she pushed herself upward grabbing Endymion on her way. Everything started to spin as she finally hit the surface and took her first breath. She hauled him up to shore and laid him down.  
  
She laid down beside him taking deep breaths.  
  
The witch was long gone.  
  
Endymion was choking hard and water spilled from his mouth. She closed her eyes and couldn't help but ask the question pulling at her mind.  
  
"How did you get her to leave?"  
  
Endymion looked over at her.  
  
"I found your sword and when I picked it up, she walked backwards. She looked terrified."  
  
Serenity looked at his hand. It clutched her sword tightly and her sword was reacting. The lettering was glittering. She shook her head.  
  
"I would have been terrified too."  
  
She stood up and blew air out through her nose like a bull ready to charge. Anger erupted into her heart. It'd taken her years to be able to pick that sword up. Your heart had to earn it, and he'd just picked it up like it was nothing.  
  
"Why? What's so strange about that?"  
  
"It's strange because I'm the only one who's ever been able to lift that sword."  
  
"But why? It's featherlight."  
  
"Because it's heavy to those with evil hearts. Your spirit must reach a point of goodness, a point of love, and then it will be light."  
  
She bent down beside him and picked it up easily, pulling his fingers off. The sword stopped glittering and she sheathed it away. She wrung out her hair, and ignored Endymion completely.  
  
"Are you angry at me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Because I picked up your sword?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
All of a sudden the sword grew heavy and she struggled to stay upwards. Her heart was growing darker. Let it go, she thought. Just let it go. It's no big deal.  
  
Endymion saw her struggle and held her up.  
  
"It's getting heavier isn't it?"  
  
She sighed and nodded.  
  
"I shouldn't be angry. I should be glad there's another person with a beautiful heart in this world. Yes, that's what I should be feeling."  
  
The sword got light and she stood up straight. That was the first time the sword had grown heavy since she'd gotten the strength of heart to use it. She sighed. She can't grow dark. That's exactly what Beryl wanted.  
  
That, and Endymion.  
  
Author's Note: Sorry for the length of time that has passed between these to chapters. But please review anyway. 'Preciate it.  
  
Oh, and here's a hint to the key. It's not a pattern. The letters are jumbled up and some vowels are actually consonants. Ex: I is M. Truthfully. Such as in the word... thwemb. The m in that word is actually an i. Yep. 


	3. Fate Beckons

Endymion's suspicions had been stirred about the peaceful looking lake and it's many reflections. He was beginning to realize how the Goddess was straining to ignore it, to not include it in her vision. She kept her back to it almost the entire time he saw her. Facing the forest instead, or leading her horse between herself and the shore.  
  
"What is it?" he asked her as she stiffened. Her pupils turned to pin pricks and her hand grasped her sword tightly.  
  
"She's coming," she said slowly, but her voice was not her own. It was a commanding powerful voice, coated with a magic. She turned away from the lake and walked sideways towards him. "Do not leave my side."  
  
A wind picked up from nowhere, and the trees moaned. They chattered like old friends in panicked voices. Shivers traveled up and down his spine as he watched her freakishly blue eyes scan the trees.  
  
Her sword glowed bright silver in anticipation of the coming evil. It longed to strike the darkness away and cast light to all corners of the world. Her eyes turned to him and her tongue rolled the long syllables of the Moon language.  
  
"Ire oeth lprrty trra. Guhy dylxrat."  
  
His mind tingled. Magic erupted around him as nature chose sides. He saw this for the first time, he'd ignored it before, never able to accept it. But she was helping him accept the magic that hid from his Earthen eyes, the magic the Lunarians saw everyday.  
  
Shadows withered around the trees into monstrous shapes, taking forms that they never should be able to take. They laughed with ugly dark eyes, taunting in their shapes. But the lake rippled apparently choosing the Goddess's side, for it shined trying to make the shadows disappear. The trees grew taller it seemed, stretching on into the sky that was darkening with clouds. They'd chosen the side of Beryl. And the animals ran into valleys and field far away from the fight, where they would not have to choose.  
  
A cackle traveled from the forest and first a pair of glowing ember eyes appeared, followed by flaming red hair the color of hell's darkest reaches. Then the pale china colored skin came and a dress of shadows.  
  
Serenity's pupils turned silver like the moonlight while the irises were still sky blue of dawn. Her whole body shined with an aura of light, her hair like rays of the sun, her robes the brightest of whites.  
  
And suddenly the Prince knew what happened when darkness challenged light, when hell challenged heaven. They both came in their terrible glory, calling upon nature to help them defeat the other. And the shadows played fatal games while the light tried to end it all, to blast it all away forever.  
  
"Serenity," the shadows said hoarsely, they're voices turning the name into something to cringe from rather than to turn to.  
  
"Beryl," the Goddess said, her voice echoing with power. Indeed it spread among the trees that were darkened. The sun had gone and the only light came from the Goddess and the Lake, both radiant with magic.  
  
And then the battle began, one of many in this everlasting war. Shadows covered the light only to shriek as they were blasted away. The Goddess screamed in her language, throwing balls of light in the shadows direction, and they exploded all around. But the shadows bounced back, and threatened to consume her all together.  
  
The Prince kept out of the line of fire and covered his eyes with his arm, turning his head away. His heart thumped in his chest, and up through his throat where he almost let out a yell. He was lost in a horrible sort of fear until he couldn't focus upon anything that was happening.  
  
Finally he heard a horrible, shrill yell and an explosion of light turned his vision red. The wind ceased it's howling, the lake dimmed it's light, and the sun reappeared. He opened his eyes to see the Goddess let her sword down. Her breathing was labored and tired and her limbs looked weak. He rushed forward to catch her as she collapsed and she looked up at him with cloudy eyes.  
  
"Guhy dylxrat," she breathed and touched his face with her fingertips. She ran her fingers across his open lips and smiled faintly. He held her shocked and knelt down on the ground. Her chest rose and fell with increasing effort.  
  
"Guhy dylxrat."  
  
And her body went limp.  
  
Author's Note: Wow! I updated! And I very much enjoyed writing this chapter, though I'm not sure if it makes much sense yet. Note the yet. But isn't suspense great? Please review for me!!  
  
Until the next time,  
  
Ai No Senshi 


	4. Changing Fate

Endymion stood with the limp goddess in his arms, and hurried toward the lake. He walked waist high in, and wet her with water. He moistened her lips, trying to get her to drink something.

"What's happening, Goddess?"

All his reflections watched him. One laughed, while many more looked terribly concerned. Most of his reflections were trying to talk to him, tell him what to do. The wind picked up and whispered to him.

__

"Lprrty." 

Choose. He looked at his reflections. Was he to choose one of his reflections? Could one of them save her? The laughing one looked tempting in it's dark glory, it looked powerful, but he did not trust it. The man in the green jacket looked too ordinary, while the man in the purple looked too extraordinary. The man in the tuxedo seemed able to do something, but then his eyes fell on another reflection. His real reflection. 

The goddess' whisper echoed in his mind. _"Guhy dylxrat." _Fate beckons.

He pointed to his real reflection. _"M lprrty ire."_

The lake swirled into a giant whirlpool, sucking the rejected reflections under it's depths. The chosen reflections shimmered, and came upwards in a wave. It swallowed him up, the goddess slipped from his arms. 

There was water everywhere. It filled his ears, rushing past, humming. It told him things he knew not about himself, it told him what his fate could be now. His breath started to run low, and his head felt light, just as the water slipped away.

He searched frantically for the goddess. She was not on the shore, so he dove under. He searched the bottom, bit by bit, praying for her to be there. He surfaced for air and the lake moved again. Water bent in, then pushed upwards a body. The goddess. He wrapped her tightly in his arms. Her face was white, her eyes still closed. Her lips were slightly parted.

"Juxy ew," he said to her. He moved her long silver hair away from her face. "Juxy ew, Serenity." 

He tilted her chin with his thumb, and dipped his head down. He met her cold lips and breathed into her. It was a one-sided kiss, but it served it's purpose. Slowly, slowly, she started to breath again. She took one deep breath and the trees swayed. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, dazed.

"You've chosen," she said. "You answered fate."

He nodded. "I've chosen who I was, and who I am now."

The Goddess turned and looked at her many reflections, and his one. Only one of her reflections paid his any mind. Who she really was. The princess. She slipped out of his arms and pointed to that one reflection. Fate held it's breath. The world silenced itself, waiting for her decision. 

__

"M lprrty ire."

Sound erupted from everywhere. Magic sprang forth, the lake swirled and crashed. She closed her eyes and held her arms out, accepting fate. The wave crashed over her, cleansing her spirit. When it subsided she was no longer the Goddess. Her hair was in two buns, each streaming down into the water. On her forehead the crescent moon burned brightly. Her dress had no sleeves, and on her wrists were bracelets.

"Princess Serenity," Endymion breathed. He held his hand out to her and she took it.   
"Fate has arrived," she said to him. A single tear fell from her eye. 

"What? What is it?"

"I know what our fate is, dear Prince." She hugged his chest, burying her face into the cloth. "Just hold me now because this will not last long."

Endymion did hold her, though he was frightened. She cried softly into him and he kissed the top of her head. 

"How touching." A cackle arose from the darkness of the forest. Beryl appeared and she did not look like herself. Her dress was tattered, her hair was knotted. Her face was cut, blood dripped slowly from it. 

Serenity pulled herself from Endymion's chest and furrowed her brow in anger. 

"You hag," she hissed. "You want to steal from me the only thing I love."

"Love is for idiots. Power is all that matters." Darkness gathered around Beryl and grew. She laughed as the sun set, and night settled. "It is night!" Beryl yelled. "The time of darkness!"

Again nature chose sides, and it was very much the same as before. The lake shimmered beneath Serenity and Endymion. 

"But you are wrong!" Serenity yelled. Her eyes were once again silver. "For in the night, there is the Moon. And forever it shall shine!"

A cloud moved away and a full moon shone down upon the lake. Serenity bathed in it's light, which was doubled in the water. She knew her fate was meeting her. She and Endymion would die at Beryl's hands, but it was not useless for Beryl would perish as well. 

Magic gathered around her, ready to be fired. Serenity held her hands out and was surprised when she felt the weight of a wand there. She gasped. The silver crystal was in her power.

"Fate is never written in stone. Change yours," her mother's voice came from the moonlight.

Now the magic was stronger than she'd ever controlled before, and she struggled to keep it in front of the wand. But it grew as did Beryl's fear. Endymion watched and felt something change. It felt as if his life were lengthening. Visions of the future flashed behind his eyes. He saw a pink haired little girl. He saw the Earthen Palace, and the Moon Palace. He saw Queen Selenity smiling, but it was not Queen Selenity. It was Serenity dressed as a Queen. His queen.

The magic fired from the wand and engulfed Beryl. She screamed as she slowly was ripped away from the Earth. Her soul twisted and writhered into nothingness, and her body was turned to ash.

When the light cleared only two were left. Serenity turned to Endymion and threw her arms around his neck. 

"We won!" she said into his collar. "We won!" She pulled herself back and looked at his lips. She studied his eyes and found reassurance. Then she kissed him.

And fate took a new turn.

Author's Note: Okay, so it doesn't exactly live up to chapter three, but then again that was good. (Even I was impressed. And it takes a lot from me to impress me.) Please review for me. I'd appreciate it. Do I need an epilogue to tie up loose strings? I'm not sure. 

Until the next time,

Ai No Senshi


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